The Master Plan
by lyuboiv
Summary: Having barely defeated the Lord of Hell, the space marine must find a way back home. But even if he returns to Earth, there is no guarantee that the demonic threat has truly been ended. The battle is far from over and duty calls once again... This story is inspired by and based on the Master Levels for Doom II.
1. Part I

_A fanfic based on the Master Levels - has anyone done this before? I think not. I wanted to try out something new and this idea just came to me. Besides, I wanted a challenge and what better place to find it than an expansion pack without any official story._

_The story serves two purposes. First, it tells how the space marine got back to Earth after defeating Lord Baphomet in the final level of Doom II, the Icon of Sin, as the ending text does mention "you begin the long trek back home" but no details are given. Second, it tries to create some kind of background story for the Master Levels - it revolves around the so-called "Master Plan", the space marines' scheme to exterminate the last bastions of demonic resistance on Earth (which are supposed to be the master levels themselves)._

_Lock and load, marines! We're going in..._

* * *

**THE MASTER PLAN**

(inspired by and based on the _Master Levels for Doom II_)

**by L. Ivanov**

* * *

**Part I**

**The Return Trip**

Devastation. The wrecked landscape stretched on for miles in all directions - an endless expanse of charred debris, sizzling lava pits and pillars of smoke rising towards the crimson sky. One could think this place had been mauled by the hands of a giant and this was not far from the truth. Somewhere in the hazy distance was a huge pile of torn flesh and shattered bones - the body of a huge creature that had been utterly destroyed. Its death throes were the reason for all the destruction that had been inflicted upon this eerie world.

The only thing that moved in this broken world was the lonely figure of a man trudging through the rough terrain. He wore a dirty green uniform and a helmet - a space marine. His hands gripped a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun, several other weapons were visible as well - attached to his bulky backpack. He seemed to walk aimlessly, unsure of where exactly he was supposed to go, yet he was not worried even one bit about his present situation. He had done his job in the most satisfying way possible and did not really care about what happened next.

Just a few days ago life had been so much simpler. Boring, indeed, yet pleasingly predictable. Then the gates of Hell were thrown wide open and life changed for everyone. The marine had found himself within the very eye of the storm and had to fight for his life through the worst demon-infested realms a sick brain could possibly imagine. But the demonic freaks were not satisfied with ruining his day, so they invaded Earth and nearly succeeded in wiping out humanity. This evil scheme failed too, and humanity was able to escape into space. Then they discovered the invader's gateway and the fight continued - through corrupted buildings and streets, all the way back to Hell, and finally into the lair of the Big Bad Demon Lord. The battle was fierce and seemingly hopeless, yet the huge demon had his brain blown up in the end, and its thrashing limbs devastated much of Hell's surface.

* * *

And there he was now - all alone, with only the distant cries of the restless spirits to keep him company. Hell had become unusually quiet since the death of its master. It seemed all demons were hiding. Or were they dead? This reprieve seemed enjoyable at first, but now the marine was starting to feel bored to death. He almost wished some demon would jump at him, so that he could blow it away with his shotgun. But why were the bastards hiding? Were they scared of him? _"Well, they should be!",_ he thought bitterly.

After the epic final battle, this lonely journey through the ruins of Hell seemed like a horribly anticlimactic end to the what had been the most amazing days in the marine's entire life. He kept walking forward with the vague hope that he would find something... anything. Some surviving demons to toast, perhaps. Or one of those blue soul spheres - he was starting to feel tired and definitely needed a boost.

As he trudged through the ashes, the marine tried to count how many demons and undead he had killed. Was it enough? He could never really find out just how big Hell's armies were, and so he had no idea if he had wiped out a large or a tiny fraction of their forces. He suspected that some of the fiends would linger in the dark corners of the Earth and pester humanity for years to come. The Space Marine Corp would have to organize some sort of mopping squads and terminate this threat once the recovery starts.

The marine climbed on top of a bigger pile of mud mixed with debris and surveyed his surroundings. It was the same lifeless landscape of ruin in all directions. Nothing to break the endless monotony... but wait, his eyes caught a slight glimmer in the distance. The marine squinted his eyes and stared intently in that direction. Indeed, there was something shining like polished metal in the distance. It could be something dangerous, but who cares? He was desperate.

* * *

The marine headed in the direction of the mysterious shine as quickly as he could, trying not to trip over the scattered rocks. His weapons were slowing him down, so he ditched his rocket launcher and plasma gun. _"I shouldn't be needing these anymore,"_ he murmured. The demons were beaten and the fighting was long over. He guessed that the SMC was probably already sending squads to re-establish control over Earth. They'd better be!

As he came closer to the mysterious glow, the marine started to hear a peculiar humming in the air - it constantly changed its pitch and varied, sounding like a swarm of insects one second, then like claws scratching against metal the other. He gripped his shotgun tightly and put his finger on the trigger. Could this thing be a wounded demon? If it was, the marine would gladly put the freak out of its misery. But it could also be some sort of damaged device or an artifact. The death of Hell's master could have unpredictable effects on the entire dimension.

The noise was very strong now and he knew he was close to the mysterious object. Behind that big rock... there it was! The marine stopped and stared blankly at the strange thing that hung before his eyes. It looked like a small tear in the very fabric of reality - a glowing crack in the air filled with a swirling chaos of colors and images, a turbulent pool of lights and shadows. Several rocks around this strange rupture were floating in the air around it, as if captured in an entirely different gravity field. The marine stared into the object, trying to discern the images that appeared and faded within the vortex. And there it was - fleeting images of blue skies and green fields. Was this Earth? Was this strange object a way home? The marine raised his eyes towards the burning skies above and yelled:

"Is this another one of your dirty tricks? You want me to go back so that something even worse will happen, just like last time?"

There was no answer. The air was completely still and the only thing to disturb the silence was the noise emitting from the portal. _"Or maybe it's no portal after all," _the marine thought. It could be some kind of magical anomaly caused by the destruction of the Icon of Sin. And it could probably be used as a portal. It sounded like suicide, but the marine did not have any other options. To remain in this shattered world was out of the question.

The marine shrugged. _"Here goes nothing." _he murmured and stepped closer to the anomaly.

As he reached out to touch it, the marine felt lighter and slowly rose in the air. So there was some kind of gravity distortion after all. He focused and stopped moving his limbs, so that he would gently float towards the tear in reality. A few more inches... just one more... and he found himself within a thundering tunnel of light and distorted reflections. An invisible force pulled him forward and the roar of the dimensional gateway drowned out his own scream.


	2. Part II

**Part II**

**The Master Plan**

It all stopped as suddenly as it had started. The sensation of movement ceased, the roar was cut off, and dizziness subsided. The marine still did not dare to open his eyes, but then he reached up and took off his helmet. He immediately felt a familiar breeze on his forehead. He finally looked around and breathed a sigh of relief – he had appeared somewhere near his hometown, the place where the demons' primary gateway had been located. It was a rainy gray day, yet the marine considered the dark clouded sky to be the most pleasant sight after his second journey through the pits of Hell.

A groan-like sound broke the silence. The marine turned around and saw the anomaly that had brought him here shrivel and eventually fade out completely. It was a comforting thought that no evil could follow him through this portal anymore. _"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought the last time,"_ the marine murmured. He quickly surveyed his surroundings. Somewhere in the distance was the spaceport - dark and abandoned. The city ahead seemed suspiciously quiet as well. Maybe the demons were really gone for good? But if that were true, then where were the space marines?

The answer came sooner than he had expected. There were some UAC crates near a nearby old warehouse and they were unusually clean – they must have been brought there recently. And the SMC symbol that had been hastily spray-painted on the wall of the warehouse meant that a field HQ had probably been set up inside. Finally, some reinforcements! Perhaps some rations too – now that the ordeal was over, the marine had realised how hungry he was. Stimpacks could suppress hunger and thirst, but only up to a point.

* * *

The marine walked cautiously towards the warehouse entrance and then noticed a vague human shape moving inside. He waved his hand and the figure in the shadows slowly turned around and then started walking towards him in a manner that filled the marine with a strange sense of foreboding. He had seen this kind of gait before. The only people who walked this way were the...

The marine quickly ducked and took cover behind one of the crates. It was just in time as a spray of bullets was unleashed in his direction. The hot lead tore through the wooden boxes and little pieces of them flew in every direction. The attacker kept walking forward without even ceasing fire. The marine could now see him clearly – a Former Commando! But of course – after fighting so many of these creeps, the marine had learned to intuitively recognize their manner of moving.

The marine was now pinned down behind the crates and he lacked the heavy weaponry to return fire properly. _"So stupid!" _he thought bitterly, _"Why did I have to leave behind my rocket launcher?" _Now he had to deal with the situation the oldschool way – charge and a close-range shotgun blast. Just like Sergeant Osmond's troop movement exercise back at boot camp. It was all about the right timing.

The Former Commando was relentless – its chaingun was smoking heavily and the barrels were starting to become red hot, yet it would not stop shooting. It was very close now – the marine could see the red glow in its eyes. These zombies were not very good at shooting something that was right under their noses, so the marine dived right under its barrage of bullets and landed near its blood-stained boots. As expected, the Commando stopped firing and froze for a second, which was more than enough. The sawed-off shotgun barrels were pressed against the creature's chest and the trigger was pulled before it could even try to aim downward. The blast tore the zombie's body in half and the marine's face was bathed in cold slimy blood. _"That'll teach ya!"_

* * *

Now that the threat was gone, the space marine jumped quickly to his feet and rushed inside the warehouse. Indeed, there was an SMC field HQ inside – fully deployed and ready for action. However, the marine that was supposed to man it was already dead. He had probably been caught off-guard by that Former Commando, believing it to be one of his comrades.

The marine kneeled next to the fallen soldier's body and looked into his face. It was a fairly young recruit and this was probably his first real mission. The marine shook his head. _"I am sorry, kid," _he whispered, _"You did not deserve to go out like this. No marine does."_

He thought he should give the kid a proper burial. But this could wait for a few hours; first he had to assess the situation and see if the invasion was truly over. Besides, it was starting to rain. There was a huge gaping hole in the roof and the concrete floor was already wet. The equipment was safe for now, though. The marine finally turned his full attention towards the screens and tactical maps.

The world map showed twenty hotspots around the globe – were these the last surviving demonic strongholds? Things looked serious – the readings in the tactical schematics indicated fairly strong infestations in some of these areas. The invasion was over for sure, yet these last demon-controlled areas could quickly grow and lead to a new Hell on Earth, mere days after the first invasion had been repelled. The marine then turned his attention towards the large communications console and saw the last received urgent message:

* * *

_All SMC personnel – initiate the execution of the __**Master Plan.**__ The demonic invasion has stopped suddenly, and this is our chance to retake our planet. The demons still hold a number of crucial facilities around the planet, and they are trying to regroup and continue their assault, despite the unexpected shock they experienced. Your task is to attack and clear out those facilities – quickly and efficiently. Time is a luxury we cannot afford! The twenty missions have been divided into easier cleanup jobs and harder assignments that will require you to take out powerful demonic warlords. It is up to you to organize and complete all missions, then report their completion through this encrypted channel. Good luck, marines. __**– General Callahan**_

* * *

A message from High Command, transmitted from orbit. The marine suspected that there would be some remaining demons to clean up, yet he had not expected the situation to be so complicated. _"Looks like I have some unfinished business,"_ he growled. Perfect timing – he was starting to feel bored anyway. But where were the mission briefings?

The marine looked around and spotted the young recruit's backpack lying in a muddy puddle nearby. He pulled it out of the muck and examined its content. Some stimpacks, adrenaline shots, a couple of armor shards, a few soaked rations (useless), some spare parts, a fresh clip of bullets, and a document folder... waterproof and undamaged. This had to be it!

The marine tore open the envelope and skimmed through the briefing impatiently. Twenty mission sites – twenty nests of evil to clean up, each one with a code name. The first ones were various important facilities with moderate infestation levels. The last ones were true bastions of evil, the lairs of the last surviving demonic warlords on Earth, code-named Veavitdpoh, Chagrin, and Mephisto***. Surviving... but not for long. A sadistic smile was already creeping across the marine's face. Looks like it was time for some more fighting. But how was he going to get there?

Once again, the answer was just around the corner - the young recruit had managed to set up a mobile teleport hub before his unfortunate demise. And the briefings contained the coordinates that had to be punched in. Excellent. With these, the marine could warp to the mission zones, do the job and then return safely.

* * *

He pulled out the first briefing sheet. The mission was code-named "ATTACK" and included a brief description: "A small security outpost is key to keeping watch and control over the whole region. A part of the building was used as storage space, so there should be weapons and ammo, as well as other military supplies available. Low demonic infestation detected. Clear out facility and reactivate the main computer."

"_Sounds easy enough," _the marine thought. _"This should be a good warm-up before I take down the big bad guys." _With this in mind, he pulled out the sheet for the mission named "MEPHISTO" and set it aside. _"I will leave you for last. I have a hunch you will be a tough one. Not that this is going to save you..."_

The marine checked his weapons, counted his ammo and approached the teleporter. He looked at the dead recruit one more time and whispered: _"I will make them pay, kid. This is my promise to you__... __I will show them that I am the Master. The Master of their doom."_

The marine stepped onto the platform, entered the first coordinates and put his finger on the "engage" button. It was time to dish out some more death and destruction.

"_This should be fun."_

* * *

**Notes:**

*** These are based on the names included in Sverre Andre Kvernmo's original storyline for his levels. Veavitdpoh is an Arch-Vile and his name means "Very evil Arch-Vile in the deepest parts of Hell," Chagrin is a Cyberdemon, and Mephisto (a.k.a. "old Lucy") is an Icon of Sin / boss brain.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed this little journey._

_By the way, this General Callahan is supposed to be the same person from another fan fic of mine (Phobos Trooper), which I should really update soon. It's been more than a year..._

_And one more thing - the Marine's choice of first and last mission is based on my personal Master Levels play scheme. I always play "Attack" first and "Mephisto" last (because it has a boss brain)._

_Until next time, folks :)_


End file.
